Financial Counseling

Housing counselors and social service case managers increasingly find themselves dealing with clients who need to address various financial barriers. This course provides the basic strategies and information needed to increase professionals’ ability to assist their clients. It covers the basic fundamentals of financial counseling for low-income clients delivered as a current program enhancement or a new stand-alone service. Topics covered include barriers to increasing wealth faced by low-income clients, the financial counseling process, program design, client goal-setting and relationship-building, and developing a financial plan. It includes essential information on savings strategy and products, client income analysis, insurance products, and tax filing.

This course is unique from other financial training courses as it focuses on a one-on-one counseling approach with the individual client. It reviews the counseling process in detail, and it covers the financial services that housing and social service counselors can implement to increase their impact. Participants will complete the course equipped with the most relevant information available.